Rescue horses relocated, nonprofit to dissolve

SHEA JOHNSON STAFF WRITER

Thursday

Feb 19, 2015 at 6:51 PMFeb 19, 2015 at 7:17 PM

PHELAN — In wake of a Daily Press report last week that more than three dozen horses were lacking food and adequate care at a nonprofit rescue in Phelan, the majority of horses there have been relocated to a facility in San Diego County and Fallen Horses Inc. will be dissolved, the board’s vice president said Thursday.

“I do intend to fold Fallen Horses as soon as all these horses are safe,” Board Vice President Dottie Parsons-Harrison said. “I do intend to collapse the rescue.”

Parsons-Harrison said that she sent a letter Thursday to Valley Center-based HiCaliber Horse Rescue relinquishing all horses under Fallen Horses’ umbrella, even those yet to be found in foster care.

HiCaliber Executive Director Michelle Cochran said Thursday that the rescue had pulled 25 horses so far, an incremental transitioning that began Feb. 14, and will collect the remaining few “as soon as possible.”

Cochran also said that she’s tracked down 11 other horses in foster care that are the responsibility of Fallen Horses.

“We are very lucky to have a large facility of equine professionals who are capable of handling cases of this magnitude,” she said.

Speaking to the severity of the horses’ conditions — several were observed last Friday to have protruding hips and spines — Cochran referenced a 1-10 body scoring index for animals that categorizes near-death as “under 1.”

“The majority of horses we’ve pulled so far are 1 to 2,” she said. “I’m amazed that there were as many people involved as there was, and help wasn’t sought sooner.”

The horses now will be enrolled in an intake process, where they will receive veterinarian, dental and farrier care as well as treatment for various ailments, she said.

Admittedly, the influx will add some strain to the facility, which already has 84 horses under its purview.

“It creates an incredible increase of work and need for resources,” Cochran said. “We’re taking on a big endeavor here, but part of a rescue is being proactive.

“We don’t want this to ever happen to any horse again.”

The move to collapse Fallen Horses comes days after the three-member board ousted its president Traci Hutmier, citing no confidence in Hutmier’s ability to run operations or navigate the nonprofit through tumultuous times, according to Parsons-Harrison.

Hutmier told the Daily Press on Tuesday that she had largely self-financed the rescue, but recently lost her job.

KC Arabians ranch owner Victoria Hardesty, who had been leasing space to the rescue since March 2013 and is also a board member, said last week that Fallen Horses had indeed come under intense funding woes leading to a feed shortage because Hutmier had lost her job “four to five weeks ago.” But she and others have also suggested that the turmoil likely extended for months, compounded by the nonprofit's over-commitment to accepting horses.

Meanwhile, Cochran said that the adoption-based program will focus on rehabilitating, training and rehoming the horses.

Because Fallen Horses reportedly plans to disband, Cochran said that HiCaliber will also act as a “safety net” for any horse once the responsibility of Fallen Horses, not only the ones removed from the Phelan ranch or those identified in foster care.

Parsons-Harrison, who lives in Reno, Nevada, said that two horses have already been identified for euthanization; one had fractures in its front legs and the other had snapped front flexor tendons.

She said she has rerouted donations from area feed stores to go to HiCaliber since they have assumed care for the horses.

“There’s no coming back from this,” she said. “What do you think the ramifications are within your own community? It’s a very heartbreaking and aggravating situation. I can’t stress enough how angry and hurt (I am).